1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to underwater viewing devices. In particular, it relates to collapsible floating windows which provide an unobstructed underwater view to an individual looking into the water from above the surface of the water.
2. Background Art
For many people, one of the most popular leisure activities is visiting aquatic areas, such as the beach, or lakes. One of the more enjoyable aspects of visiting a lake or the beach is the ability to view underwater life and objects. For example, many individuals enjoy viewing the underwater plant life and underwater creatures, such as fish, shellfish, turtles, etc. Unfortunately, many individuals do not enjoy having their eyes exposed to water due to salt content in ocean water or potentially to contaminants in either ocean water or lake water. In addition, some people are afraid to swim underwater. While it is possible to view some underwater activity from above the surface, the surface tends to refract light such that it is difficult to clearly see what is under the surface. It would be desirable to be able to clearly view underwater activity from above the surface of the water without having to submerge or having to have the individual's eyes come in contact with the water.
One method of viewing the underwater environment is to use a face mask which is strapped onto the swimmer's head. This allows a swimmer to submerge while keeping the swimmers eyes dry. Unfortunately, face masks do not help the individual who does not wish to submerge.
Another alternative approach has been to construct floating windows in which the bottom surface of the window is held below the surface water. These devices eliminate the distortion created by the surface of the water and allow an individual clearly see what is beneath the water. Some variations of this type of device include magnifying glasses, lights, storage pockets, etc. A disadvantage associated with this type of device is that they typically are fairly heavy devices which are difficult to store and transport. The difficulty arises from the fact that they are typically made from rigid materials which are heavy and cannot be folded into a compact storage position when the individual is not at the beach or lake. This is an especially negative aspect when the individual is transporting the device in a vehicle, such as a car or boat, which has limited storage space. Also, these fixed rigid devices tend to be expensive. It would be desirable to have a low cost device capable of being folded into a compact storage configuration for transport to and from an aquatic recreation area and which can be stored in a minimal amount of space.
While addressing the basic desirability of using windows to view underwater aquatic life, the prior art has failed to provide a window which is inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of components, and can be folded into the storage configuration which uses a minimal amount of space.